FEATURE : THREAT ANALYSIS
THE COLONIAL PIPELINE ATTACK SHOULD SERVE AS A WAKE-UP CALL TO THOSE OUT THERE THAT NEEDED ONE .
connectivity also means the systems we rely on for our health , power and national security are susceptible to cyber threats . And in this regard , the Colonial Pipeline attack should serve as a wake-up call to those out there that needed one , as well as a reminder to those of us who were already aware of the threat .
All eyes have been on the UK ’ s critical national infrastructure , and particularly the NHS , since the pandemic began . Defending it is at the heart of the new Integrated Review of the UK ’ s foreign , defence , security and development policy , which seeks to ensure that those in control of Critical National Infrastructure have the knowledge , strategy and security to combat threat actors bent on bringing it down . But the infancy of this initiative means that some industries are still in the dark regarding the urgency of the threat and how to defend against it .
Ageing critical infrastructure around the globe has long been ripe for attack . Last year , the UK ’ s National Cyber Security Centre issued a joint warning alongside the US warning of Russian attacks on millions of routers , firewalls and devices used by infrastructure operators and government agencies .
The UK faces increasingly sophisticated threats from private attackers
What makes this situation more perilous is the fact that the Colonial Pipeline shut down was caused by what appears to have been a private party . Typically , cyber warfare tactics such as targeting infrastructure was the realm of nation state actors .
An act of aggression not unlike previous ‘ pre-Internet ’ tactics , and one which would ultimately be traceable to the perpetrator .
This situation punctuates an upward trend in the number of private parties targeting public infrastructure in ransomware attacks .
These attacks , which hold information or systems hostage until a sum of money is paid , are growing in
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